Abc To Pop $10 Million Question

NAMES & FACES

Can more money, more lifelines and a new wardrobe for Regis Philbin re-invigorate Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on ABC?

The Disney-owned network should have its final answer soon. The once-hot game show returns Feb. 22 as a series of specials dubbed Super Millionaire. Four other editions will air that week.

The first five questions to a contestant range in value from $1,000 to $5,000. The next five start at $10,000 and climb to $100,000. The final five jump to $500,000, $1 million, $2.5 million, $5 million and $10 million.

Want to try? Telephone lines for contestants open at 7 p.m. Monday and close at 3 a.m. Feb. 24. The number: 1-800-999-7878.

Contestants who reach the $500,000 level receive two new lifelines: Three Wise Men (experts backstage supply help) and Double Dip (a contestant gets two shots at an answer).

Philbin's monochromatic suits are out. "We are working right now on a look for Reege that will be a little bit different," executive producer Michael Davies says. He said it would be "still quite a progressive look."

The game show became a phenomenon in the summer of 1999, then a high-rated series in 2000. Overexposure hurt the show, which left ABC in 2002.

"You might say it burned itself out," Philbin says.

"We did 363 episodes -- it lost its uniqueness," Davies says. "We did have too many special episodes. The network felt at that point that they needed to do a lot of special celebrity episodes so they had some unique way to market the show. We got away from what the true heart of the show was. It was regular people playing."